While developing my concept of how to travel using a coin flip to make decisions, I stumbled on an interesting term.
Flipism
The principle is simple. You want to choose between two options. Take a coin with two different sides. Assign one option per side. Toss the coin. See which side is up, hence which option you will choose. Simple.
I guess everyone in our culture has already heard about this means of decision making. It is used for bets, in sports, even in politics.
Funnily enough, if you look at statistical studies, the chances are not 50/50 as you would think. There is a slight chance that the coin would land on its edge. This can be corrected by catching the coin with the hand and flipping it onto your other hand. Then depending on how balanced the coin is and how it is tossed, probabilities vary. Only a coin described as « fair » would lead to a 50/50 result, and that only after a significant number of tosses.
Reveal yourself
Then, a coin flip can be used differently. As a means to trigger a reaction inside of you. So, instead of thinking: “The coin will decide for me!”, you use it to show what you have already decided but cannot see or accept.
Here is how it goes: You want to choose between two options. Take a coin with two different sides. Assign one option per side. Toss the coin. See which side is up. Observe your reaction to that result. Is an unpleasant emotion arising like frustration or fear? Is your body contracting? This means you would prefer the other option. Or are you feeling the tingling of joy and excitement and your body is soft and relaxed? Decide accordingly.
This process has even inspired a Danish poet and scientist, Piet Hein, who wrote the following poem about using a coin toss as a means of revealing your preference:
A Psychological Tip Whenever you're called on to make up your mind, and you're hampered by not having any, the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find, is simply by spinning a penny. No – not so that chance shall decide the affair, while you're passively standing there moping, but the moment the penny is up in the air, you suddenly know what you're hoping.
